"With the successful use of the snow scene, frost and snow began to fall within the arena. Froslass's body is hidden in the snow and ice. How will Venusaur respond now?!"
"Venusaur, use Frenzy Plant!" Ash didn't care about hiding or not; if you like to hide, then use an attack that covers the entire arena to conduct a carpet strike!
Let's see where you can hide!
Venusaur let out a loud roar, stomping its foot fiercely. Following that, countless thick thorns and green plants surged up from the arena, turning the entire field into a small forest in the blink of an eye.
And Froslass, hidden in the snow and ice, was directly hit by the Frenzy Plant that erupted from the ground!
The Snow Cloak Ability merely allows Froslass to hide its form in snow and ice, not really disappear. As long as you use a full coverage attack, you can drag Froslass out from the snowy weather!
Froslass, continuously hit by Frenzy Plant, was blasted into the sky, its body fully revealed, unable to hide in the snowy weather anymore.
"Finish her!" Ash's voice rang out again. The thorny green plants that had struck Froslass out seemed alive as they swung wildly, locking Froslass's arms and body tightly like tentacles.
The thorns on the green plants deeply pierced Froslass's skin, and massive Grass-type energy surged into Froslass's body, dealing immense damage!
With Froslass's painful wails, seconds later, the thorns released Froslass, and she fell powerlessly to the ground, ultimately crashing down with a muffled sound. Dust rose from the arena, signaling Froslass's battle end.
Instant defeat!
Other than the initial Razor Leaf, Venusaur only used Frenzy Plant once, and Froslass was taken out directly.
The previous battle was back-and-forth; until the last moment, it wasn't even clear who would fall. The battle time was quite long; every time Infernape seemed to fall, it would stand up. The battle time was estimated to exceed ten minutes.
But this battle, altogether, didn't even last a minute. Froslass caused snowfall, Venusaur used Frenzy Plant, battle over.
The previous battle was so difficult for Ash, making it feel like he was slightly inferior to Paul. Although he won, it was just a lucky victory, and overall, Paul's strength seemed a bit stronger.
But in this match, Ash told everyone that the last one was purely because he didn't use his full power. Now, going all out and showing his true strength made the match result obvious.
The referee was stunned for a moment before announcing the result, and Paul immediately withdrew Froslass. The speed at which this match was decided was far beyond his expectations; it wasn't that Froslass was too weak, but that the opponent's Venusaur was too strong.
Paul had seen the video of Bulbasaur battling Koga too, and that Bulbasaur was simply unbelievably strong, perhaps even comparable to a Legendary Beast.
But Paul didn't believe that was the true strength of that Bulbasaur. Not to mention how a newbie Trainer like Ash trained such a powerful Bulbasaur, just the Bulbasaur species shouldn't be able to reach that level.
Therefore, Paul firmly believed the opponent must have used some special method to enhance its strength to that level, and that method absolutely wasn't something anyone could use. Otherwise, Ash wouldn't be competing in the Quartz Conference now but in the Elite Four tournament.
The Bulbasaur feared by everyone wasn't really a point of focus for him.
However, this battle, Venusaur showed him that even if it couldn't exhibit that initial power, it could still run rampant at Gym Level without a problem. Froslass, as a mid-level Gym Pokemon, was instantly defeated by Razor Leaf and Frenzy Plant, indicating the opponent's ATK was at least Elite Level.
Yet Venusaur's Level on the surface was only Gym Peak.
"Is it another Pokemon capable of battling above its level... Torterra, prepare for battle." The third Pokemon, Paul finally used his trump card, Torterra!
This is Paul's starter Pokemon and his strongest Pokemon, without exception.
Ash opened the Eye of Insight, and surprisingly found that one of the opponent's stats had changed; it showed Gym Level yesterday, but now it's turned into—Elite!
Elite Level Torterra, this is probably Paul's trump card prepared for this match.
Training a Pokemon to Elite Level within a year and a half is definitely the talent among talents, saying the future Champion is expected wouldn't be an exaggeration.
But compared to Ash's half-year training a Pokemon to Gym Peak, there's still some gap, and Ash's Gym Peak isn't just any Gym Peak...
"Venusaur, can you still fight?"
"Venusaur!" Venusaur stomped its foot, shaking the entire arena, demonstrating its desire to battle.
Ash originally intended to switch to another Pokemon, not because he thought Venusaur couldn't take on the opponent, but because he wanted to give his Pokemon a chance to battle as much as possible. However, in this match, Paul used Torterra, giving Venusaur a reason to fight.
Torterra and Venusaur are both Grass-type Pokemon, both are huge, immobile as mountains, and when they move, it's like thunder; this is a duel of Grass-type Pokemon, Venusaur certainly doesn't want to leave.
Ash understood Venusaur's thoughts, so he decided not to retract Venusaur.
"Use Razor Leaf." Paul initiated an attack first. Razor Leaf for Venusaur is four times resistant; this attack from Paul was just a probe.
Torterra stepped forward, with dozens of blue-green leaves appearing around it, then shooting out like bullets. The rotating blades, same as the skill previously released by Venusaur, sliced through the air.
"Ignore it, use Sunny Day!" Ash chose to change the weather. Although Froslass is out, the arena remains in a hail weather, which isn't advantageous for Venusaur, although it's the same for Torterra.
But Ash decided to fight in his comfort zone, which also served as a setup for his next Pokemon.
"Venusaur!" Venusaur raised its head, and the huge flower on its back bloomed brilliantly, with radiant light flying towards the sky from Venusaur's back, sweeping away the hail blowing around!
The previously misty snowy weather vanished instantly, replaced by a sun hanging high in the sky. Under the sunlight, all the snow and ice in the arena quietly melted.
At this point, Razor Leaf also hit Venusaur, but Grass-type Move hardly bothers Venusaur, not to mention Razor Leaf, a low-level Grass-type Move.
"Use Earthquake." For Torterra, Sunny Day is also advantageous. Paul ignored the opponent's weather change and chose to attack with Earthquake again.
Grass-type Move isn't very effective on Venusaur, but Ground Type Move can deal normal damage. Plus, Torterra is Ground Type, so this is a type STAB attack; if it hits, it can deal serious damage!
"Absorb the power of Earthquake, then use Frenzy Plant!"
Paul: ???
What do you mean by absorb the power of Earthquake? Do you mean you can ignore Earthquake's damage?
How is that possible, except for Flying Type and Pokemon with the Levitate Ability, shouldn't anyone be able to ignore Ground Type damage?
The next second, Torterra's front body slightly lifted, then stomped fiercely into the ground, with a visible shock wave spreading from Torterra's body, shaking the entire arena.
Beneath the ground, a terrifying Ground Type energy quickly approached beneath Venusaur, then burst open!
Venusaur took a direct hit from Earthquake... with no issue at all!
He can indeed ignore Earthquake!